Control device



J. WERNER CONTROL DEVICE March 7, 1961 Filed Dec. l0, 1958 United States Patent CONTROL DEVICE J Johannes Werner, Offenbach (Main), Germany, assiguor to H. T. Golde G.m.b.H. & Co. K.G., Frankfurt am Main, Germany Filed Dec. 10, 1958, Ser. No. 779,471

Claims priority, application Germany Dec. 12, 1957 5 Claims. (Cl. 296-137) Tihs invention relates to control devices and, more particularly, to control devices for limiting the motion of closures for the open roofs of vehicles.

The invention specifically contemplates the provision of control apparatus which is useful in connection with vehicles having openings vin roofs, which openings are closed by sliding rigid covers.

A conventional method of limiting the motion of slidable covers is to provide suitable switches which are engaged Iby the associated covers and caused to open or close an electrical circuit. Thse devices do not generally utilize mechanisms which rely upon the displacement of associated drive mechanisms and cannot enjoy the simplicity provided by the invention.

Other conventional methods employ interrupters operatively associated with the driving mechanisms of roofs but are subject to the disadvantage that before they can interrupt an electrical circuit, and indeed after they do interrupt an electrical circuit, the moving roof coasts to a position beyond that which is intended. This causes many disadvantages including, for example, the `fact that the cover frequently strikes against the portion of the frame of the vehicle which denes the opening for the cover. j

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved control for terminating the movement of the cover for an open vehicle roof which operates in an improved and efcient manner.

lt is a further object of the invention to provide an improved control which terminates the movement of a cover in ya very positive manner before the roof can strike aginst the frame of the associated vehicle.

A further and more specific object of the invention contemplates that type of arrangement in which a roof cover is driven by a flexible cable, and this object of the invention is concerned with providing an improved control-`which may be operatively associated'with the cable itself.

Toachieve the above andother of its objectives, the invention very simply employs a stop or like mechanism. This stop may be positionedin the path of movement of the freeend of the cable so that the cable will abut the same when'the associated roof 'cover is in desired position. It is, therefore, the cable which impinges against a fixed member rather than the cover itself which'can be stopped a minute distance from the associated frame.

Advantageously, the structure of the invention is not only extremely-simple but is furthermore inexpensive and reliable.V Furthermore, it quite positively prevents a roof cover from striking against the associated frame.

As a feature of the invention, the stop may be provided in such a manner that it is adjustable. This facilitates the initial installation of the cover control apparatus and makes'it a very simple matter to adjust the control'after installation has been made.

Other-objects, advantages and features vof the invention will be found in the following detailed description ofva preferred embodiment thereof 'as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

which is operated by a exible cable driven by means` of an electric motor, the slidable closure being illustrated in open position;

Fig. 2 illustrates a vertical section taken along line II-II of Fig. 1, the slidable closure being illustrated in closed position;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged View of the driving unit for the exible cable with a partial sectional view of a stop according to the invention.

Referring to Fig. 1 there is shown a vehicle roof 10 having an opening 12 which is intended to be closed by means of a slidable rigid closure 14 illustrated -in open position.

The closure t14 slides into position along guides 16, this structure being conventional and, therefore, only diagrammatically illustrated in the drawing. The distance which the front edge of the cover 14 need travel toV close the opening 12 is indicated by the dimension x1.

Also conventionally included in the apparatus and illustrated in Fig. 1 is a flexible cable 18 connected to the roof 14 by means of connecting element 20, the flexible cable 18 being guided within the Iguide or sheath 22 to effect movements longitudinally along the roof 10 vfor elastic strip 13 for vtightening the slot between the roof 10 and the slidable closure 14. The closure 14 is shown in .raised position, while the loweredposition forfsliding of the closure underneath .the fixed roof 10 is indicated .in dotted lines.` The front edge ofthe slidable cover 14 is bent downwardly and reinforced by braces 15, 17 `to provideV a channel section. The lower flange of the strip 17 is connected to a conventional canopy frame 19, the rear end` of which overlaps the inner lining 21 of the passenger compartment and extends beyondV the rear end Vof the slidable closure 14 so as to completely cover the closure 14 when seen from below. The lining 21 is fastened to a support carried by the rear part'23 of the roof frame. There is no direct interconnection between the rear ends of vthe slidable closure 14 and the slidable canopy frame 19, `both of thembeing guided separately in the side rails 16.

The structure so far described is conventional as well as the driving unit for axially displacing the'cable 18.

The guide 22 leads the flexible cable.18 into casing 24 wherein is housed a worm gear 25 which is adapted for driving the flexible cable 18 which is suitably provided with threads `42. The worm gear is, in turn, driven .by means of a transmission26 whichis'actuated by may be of Ia well known type designated for, overloadr conditions, or an adequate slipping clutch maybe inv corporated in the transmission 26. f

It is obvious from the drawing that turning of the switch 32 to the left contact 36 as indicated in 'dotted lines will cause rotation of the worm gear 25 in one sense, for instance clockwise to displace the cable 18 tothe righ-t and the cable 18 is displaced to the left to closethe roof open-` Patented Mar. 7, 1961 f ing 12. The zero position of switch 32 illustrated in fully drawn lines shows the power supply circuit for the driving motor 28 interrupted, with no displacement of the cable 18 and the slidable closure 14.

Extending from the housing 24 is a guide or sheath 46 corresponding to the guide 22, which serves the purpose of defining a path for that portion of the cable 18 which extends through the housing 24. The free end of the guide 40 (i.e., that end which is not attached to the housing 24) is indicated at the right end of Fig. 3, partially in section, wherein may also be seen the free end of the exible cable 18 with the threads 42.

According to the invention the free end of guide 40 penetrates into a block 44 by which the guide is supported or held. Threadably engaged in the block 44 is a stop 46, which constitutes a cover for the open end ci guide 40 and provides an actual physical stop or abutment in the path of movement of the cable 1S, the penetration of the stop 46 into the block 44 being controlled through the intermediary of a polygonal head 48.

This physical stopping of the cable 18 may be rendered effective simply by fixedly supporting the block 44 at some position on the chassis of the associated vehicle. It is appreciated that the physical stopping of the cable 18 need not necessarily stop the operation of the electric motor 28 by means of an overload relay 34 provided in the electric circuit. -The'electric motor may be designed for operation under overload conditions and be controlled.

simply by the manual switch 32.

The operation of the structure according to the invention will now be explained.

The necessary movement of the closure 14, as noted above, is indicated by the dimension x1. The corresponding movement ofthe free `end of cable 18 is designated in Fig. 3 by dimension x2. As illustrated, therefore, the free end of cable 18 extends slightly out of the housing 24 `when the closure 14 assumes its closed position. When the 'closure 14 is being opened, the free endof cable 18 travels towards the right in Fig. 3 and ultimatelyarrives at a position where'at it abuts the stop 46. The distance of travel x2 of the free end of the cable corresponds precisely to the distance which the closure 14 must travel in order to completely uncover the opening 12 in the roof of the vehicle. The abutting of the cable 18 against stop 46 provides a positive physical stop preventing further movement of the cable 1S, and the motor 28 can be shut off by the use of any of the methods indicated above. The tllreadable engagement of stop 46 in block 44 permits a very fine adjustment for selection of the stopping position for the closure 14, and the closure 14 is stopped precisely where desired since its movement is directly dependent upon the movement of the cable 18. It is obvious that stopping of the closure 14 takes place irnmediately regardless on whether the motor 28 is stopped or not.

When it is desired to close the opening 12, the moto-r 28 can be rendered operative in thef reverse sense by turning switch 32 (Fig. 3) to its contact 38. 2

As shown in Fig. 2 the forward movement of slidable amasar 4 closure 14 is stopped by abutment of the reinforced front part of the slidable closure 14 against the flexible strip 13 secured to fixed roof, the motor 28 being stopped, as described above, by means of the relay 34 or by manually turning switch 32 to its zero position.

Because of the rear end of the slidable closure 14 consisting of a sheet of metal without special reinforcement and because of the canopy 19 extending beyond the rear end of the closure 14 some arrangement at the roof of an adequate rear stop for the movement of the closure 14 into open position in correspondence to the front stop 13 is difficult and might finally lead to deformation of the rear parts of the slidable closure and/ or the canopy frame. Therefore, providing of a stop 46 for the free end of the cable 18 according to the invention is of great advantage to overcome these difficulties.

There will now be obvious to those skilled in the art, many modifications and variations of the structure set forth. These modiiications and variations will not, however, depart from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising a roof provided with an opening, a rigid sliding cover adjacent said roof for closing said opening, a threaded cable connected to said cover for sliding the same, a guide housing said cable to guide the latter for moving said cover, a worm engaging said cable to move the latter in said guide, an electric Imotor driving said worm, said cable extending over and beyond said worm and having a free end movable between positions which correspond to open and closed positions of said cover, and a mechanical stop adjustably positionable to correspond to the position of said free end with the cover open, said mechanical stop being positioned in the path of movement of the free end to terminate movement of said cable.

2. A vehicle as claimed in claim 1 wherein said cable is connected with said cover so as to be tensionally stressed to move said cover to its open position and compressively stressed to move the cover to its closed position.

3. A vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said guide includes an open end towards which said cable is adapted to move, said stop including a cover on said end.

4. A vehicle as claimed in claim l, wherein said guide and stop are mutually and adjustably connected.

5. A vehicle as claimed in claim 1, comprising a block on said guide, said stop threadably engaging said block.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

